What book are you reading at the moment?

[poolking]

I haven't read anything for at least three months.

Before my current hiatus I am part way through "The Rincewind Trilogy" by Terry Pratchett.

[I, Brian]

I am being such as Troglodyte at the moment - I haven't read any books for a few months now.

I tend to do everything in spurts - I'm sure by October I'll suddenly read a handful of good books.

Hopefully!

[brucegdc]

Egad. What a tough question to answer.

Let's see: Bathroom stash - A Song for Arbonne (starting it) - Guy Gavriel Kay , Circle of Fire - Tanya Huff (finishing it), Single White Vampire Seeks Same (anthology, there for quick laughs)

Bedside: Catfantastic V, Sword & Sorceress (3 different ones, don't remember which offhand), Adam Link - Robot (Eando Binder) [just finished this morning], Cat-A-Lyst (Alan Dean Foster) [next in the queue]

Mobile Reading: Alternating between Keith Laumer: The Lighter Side, The Hand of Fu Manchu (Sax Rohmer), & The Road To Oz depending on mood (electronic bookmarks are SO handy).

Car stash: 1492 - The Year the Chinese Discovered America

Office: Manuals for my new job. (Proprietary programming language - getting a leg up on it before I start Monday)

Breakfast room stash: Ikea catalog & a Robert Asprin book (whose title I don't recall off hand - the one about the irish rock singer being protected by the CIA & British Intelligence service's magic departments).

Serious Reading: Working through the University Library set (a collection of 20 volumes from about 1910 containing poetry, essays, short stories, and excerpts).

Haven't figured out what to pack for next week yet - but will probably include a couple of the University Library books and some lighter stuff. (I'm going to be travelling to Florida all week for the next couple of weeks as a kickoff to the job)

[Siege]

I am, technically, between books at the moment, having polished off Terry Pratchett's Men At Arms last night. I've been reading a history of the Apostles at bedtime, and the latest issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in the bathtub. I suspect the next book will either be Karen Harper's The Queen's Cure, a mystery set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I or Oryx and Crake.

By the way, brucegdc, if you're the fellow who provided me with pleasant company from Columbus to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, welcome to the board and thanks for the company. If not, I'm still looking forward to seeing you around.

CJ

[brucegdc]

Originally Posted by Seige

By the way, brucegdc, if you're the fellow who provided me with pleasant company from Columbus to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, welcome to the board and thanks for the company. If not, I'm still looking forward to seeing you around.

CJ

\

I am, and thank you immensely for the lift, as well as the pointer over here. Fascinating boards.

.... Bruce

[Siege]

I thought you might like it here.

I came back because, of course, I forgot a book: Zen and the Art of Knitting. It ties into some theories I've had about knitting producing a sort of alpha state which can enhance mental concentration or serve as a form of meditation. To me, it gives the body something to do which cuts out the chatter and lets the mind focus. Of course, unlike other forms of meditation, it also results in a rather nice sweater, mittens, shawl, or what have you, in addition to the spiritual results of the meditation.

CJ

[WiccanWade]

True to my anture, I multi-task, so...I'm reading the following books:

The Kybalion: Hermetic Philosophy, by 2 Anonymous Initiates
Another Mother Tongue, by Judy Grahn
The Gods of the Celts, by Miranda Green
In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics & Reality, by John Gribbin
The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

2 recent favorites of mine, include:

The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water & Earth in the Wiccan Circle, by Deborah Lipp
The Ancient British Goddess, by Kathy Jones

[WHKeith]

As usual, I have about six going at the moment. Bathroom, bedside, research books for my current writing, etc. etc.

My main personal interest book at the moment, though, is "Hermetic Magic: the Postmodern Magical Papyrus of Abarus," edited by Stephen Flowers.

I've long been somewhat divided between the Craft of Wicca--so called "low" magic or "natural" magic--and certain aspects of "high" or ceremonial magic. Modern ceremonial magic, as practiced by the O.T.O. and various other goetic offshoots, however, puts so much focus on summoning, controlling, and dismissing various spiritual powers and entities through virtue of the magician's personal will and the power of YHWH's name, and I find this unpleasant. I much prefer working WITH spiritual powers, not lording it over them. (In the long run, of course, it probably makes no difference, since we're trying to describe things undescribable on this plane. But I resent the implications, nonetheless.)

This little tome on Hermetic magic, however, has shown me a whole new aspect of ceremonial magic, one I'd learned a little about before, but not delved into deeply. What attracted me was the revelation that ORIGINAL Hermetic practice eschewed heirarchical authority, degree systems, and power-over; the so-called "Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn" was nothing of the sort, with its multiple degree levels of initiation. True Hermetic practice involved a teacher and one or more students, and often involved a teacher writing letters to them--the world's first correspondence school! This approach fits VERY nicely my current preferred coven structure, which deliberately ignores degrees and heirarchies--a "coven of equals"--and centers around a teacher with a livingroom-full of students. I feel like I may have found a magical home for myself.

Cool stuff. . . .

[Gordy]

Currently reading 'The Witches of Chiswick' by Robert Rankin and the Tibetan Book Of Living & Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche.

Incidentally, if any Pratchett/Adams fans haven't discovered Robert Rankin yet, please do!

[WiccanWade]

Originally Posted by WHKeith

...which deliberately ignores degrees and heirarchies--a "coven of equals"

Oh, good for you! Personally, I'e always believed the Traditional Wiccan degree system (based in hierarchy) to be very hypocritical(sp?) given the very Charge of the faith itself! Because, when you strip it down, that's really what it seems like, from everything I've read which actually puits it into practice ina coven-based group, or whatnot. ;-)

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by Gordy

Currently reading 'The Witches of Chiswick' by Robert Rankin and the Tibetan Book Of Living & Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche.

Incidentally, if any Pratchett/Adams fans haven't discovered Robert Rankin yet, please do!

I met Robert Rankin at a book signing a couple of years ago. I haven't actually read any of his works, but as an aspiring novelist I was after advice. A good down to earth fellow with a great sense of humour - and far too nervous at public speaking. A few glasses of wine from the Waterstone's staff soon helped him with that.

[iKwak]

Bible and "Maximized Manhood: A Guide to Family Survival." http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,

interestingly enough... prior to 1999 i would read just about anything written by just about anybody.. i was a serious bookworm.

since then, however, i have read only religious texts and science books as i really don't find the rest to be all that entertaining.

i've spent the past few months reading Secret of the Vajra World, which is an excellent reference book for the Vajrayana tradition. i generally tend to read a few religious texts at once as i find that taking a break from a particular line of thought can open one up to insights that may be glossed over when reading alot of the same text.

prior to the SVW, i just concluded the upated and revised Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. by the by... did you know that Stephen is an avid hot air balloon fan? as it turns out, he had a special gondola built for himself but has to sell it now. you can buy it from his site.

i generally cycle through my Taoist texts on a quarterly basis. many of the alchemical teachings still require a great deal of effort to penetrate and i find that as my understanding and wisdom grow, the texts themselves become more clear and easily understood.

at the current moment, i find myself with two options. i have a book that i need to re-read, Triplex Unity (a classic of Taoist Alchemy) and a book that i've not read yet, Beyond Fear, Death and Dying by Thich Nhat Hahn.

[The Fool]

I knew I'd heard of Thich Nhat Hahn - and was wracking my brains as to why.

Interesting character - here's some more information:

http://www.seaox.com/thich.html

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,

here's a link to Plum Village, the community that Thay (Thich Nhat Hahn) started in exile:

http://www.plumvillage.org/